AS boxer Mark Barriga was rejoicing, shooter Brian Rosario and archer Rachelle Cabral were falling by the wayside as Team Philippines continued to flounder in the face of powerful opposition in the 30th Olympic Games.
The 30-year-old Rosario fired a pair of 22s in the fourth and fifth rounds of the qualifying round, finishing 31st in a field of 36 in the men’s skeet won by American Vincent Hancock for the second-straight Olympics.
Rosario totaled 110 points, his bid ending as early as the second round when he shot a horrendous 19 after an opening 22 and a third round 25 at the Royal Artillery barracks.
Doing as badly was Cabral, who couldn’t find her targets all afternoon and lost to the rated Inna Stepanova of Russia, 1-7, in their head-to-head round of 32 match at the Lord’s Cricket grounds.
“Masama ang laro,” said Cabral, bitter at the result of her first ever Olympic stint.
Cabral lost the three of the four sets played (23-22, 23-18, 25-25 and 27-22) as she struggled throughout especially in the second round which the lanky Russian, who placed 10th in the ranking round, won with relative ease.
Rosario was thankful of the lessons learned from the defeat.
“It was a good experience. I learned a lot. Hopefully I will be a better shooter if given the chance to compete again,” said the young businessman from Malabon City.
The only saving grace for Team Philippines on a rainy, cold day was the victory of boxer Mark Barriga, who outclassed Italy’s Manuel Cappai, 17-7, to reach the round of 16 at the Excel hall.
With the ouster of Rosario, Cabral and swimmer Jessie Lacuna, Team Philippines is now down to eight athletes, including archer Mark Javier and swimmer Jasmine Alkhaldi, who were to see action on Wednesday.
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